The Origin of Hint Coins
by Professor Owlfeather
Summary: Hint coins are strange. They never age, and they seem fit for the professor. Just why do they exist?


**A/N: **So, a professor layton story, first one in this subject! AND I WILL BE UPDATING THE DARK GAME AND WE ARE COMPATIBLE.

-x-x-

Luke Triton and Hershel sat in Layton's office quietly, the professor sipping Earl Grey tea, and reading The London Times. It was almost dead quiet, as Layton was exhausted from teaching. The only noise being Luke flipping a hint coin in his hands, and Layton sipping.  
**"Heads or Tails?" **Luke asked the Professor.

**"Hm?"**

**"If I flip this coin 20 times, what is the likelihood that it will land on tails the 21st time?" **Luke asked, wondering if the Professor would get it.

Hershel didn't even look up from his paper. **"Trick question, Luke. that is a Hint Coin. On a hint coin there is no way of telling what is head or tails. As both sides look the same, so, zero."**

**"Ding ding ding!"** Luke said, smiling. And then slumping back in the couch. **"Ok, how about this: How and Why do we have hint coins?"**

Layton looked up from his paper, actually unsure.** "And what exactly do you mean by that?"**

**"I mean, just look at the coins. They make no sense. For starters, they show no age, Professor. And they look like they were perfectly made for you. And no matter where we go, they show up. And the hat and the L, coencidence really?" **Luke flipped the coin over to the Professor, aiming to land it in Layton's lap. Rather, he aimed too high and it landed on the brim of his hat.

**"That, I do not know either. It's strange. Perhaps we should ask someone who knows more about puzzles."** Layton said, reaching up and taking the coin off his head.

**"You mean Grannie Riddleton And her cooky granddaughter?"**

**"Now Luke, be respectful even if they are not here."**

Luke nodded, standing up and grabbing his bag. **"Yes, Professor." **  
Layton folded up his paper, setting it on the table, and took another sip of tea, setting that on the table as well. The professor grabbed his keys, which was only two keys, the laytonmobile, and to his office. Layton opened the door for Luke, who went through, and Hershel closed the door behind him, locking it as well.

The two headed out of the building, and into the laytonmobile. Piling into the car, the two eventually found themselves at the las test home of Granny Riddleton and her grandaughter. Layton knocked on the door, and it flew open, revealing Puzzlette with a blue flyswatter.  
**"Professor? Why are you here? We don't have any puzzles for you. . ."  
"That's all right, we actually wanted to talk to Granny."  
"Oh, alright. Come on in then!"**

Puzzlette moved aside, letting the two gentlemen in, and noted the still shack like feeling to the place. **"Granny! Granny! Prof and Lukey are here to speak with you!"**

The old woman came from around a corner, smiling at the Professor and Luke. **"Now, what can I help you boys with?"**

**"Well, Ms. Riddleton, we wanted to know if you knew anything about the origin of hint coins."**

**"Hint coins- oh, yes! Come and sit down and I will tell you all about it!"** Granny beckoned, and the two followed her into a different room, where there was a model of the shack on the coffee table, and two couches across from eachother.

Layton and Luke sat on one couch, and Grannie Riddleton sat on the other. She clapped her hands together, and began her tale.

_"There was a man, an extremely ordinary man, ordinary house, ordinary clothes, ordinary life, completely ordinary. He lived in a town where everyone was ordinary, everybody liked the same things and hated the same things. The town was secluded in the middle of no where, no roads or trails in or out, just paths about the town._

_And the tiny old town had been in seclusion for years and years, never advancing in technology, and eventually, everyone was related in some small way. Everyone was a distant cousin somehow. And the town had no currency. Everyone was friendly, everyone knew everyone._

_Everyone traded each other when they needed something. Wanted a new piece of furniture? Or wood to repair your home? Talk to your friend and give him a favor or crops in return. This bothered the man. It bored him how everyone and everything was the same. Unlike everyone else, he had a spontaneous imagination, and wanted to change the way of the town. And in a town where everyone knew everyone, and electricity was unheard of, they had to entertain themselves when they didn't work._

_So, long before the man we talk about now was born, someone started making puzzles. And, the idea of puzzles spread, everyone quizzed their friends with puzzles every now and then. And puzzles weren't any kind of currency, just something they all enjoyed. Because if the right answer to a brainteaser got you a new piece of furniture, how would both people gain? But sometimes, when impossible puzzles arose in the town, it would take many to solve it. And once, it took half the town to solve a puzzle about kittens! And the man thought, what if you could trade for puzzle hints? The man knew that wouldn't work, because, if you traded three carrots for a hint, how did you gain after you solved the puzzle? And the man, who was the second and less busy black smith of the tiny town, decided to craft coins._

_Once, he held the original coin in his hand. He stared at it, and decided it looked rather unpleasant. It was silver with and R imprinted on it. And, with the next one, he made it gold, and decided that the symbol would have a top hat on it, since his father was the hat store in town, and it would have an L on it because his name was Launsheria. It took time for the coins to become the next big thing. As people in the town were unknown and afraid of change._

_But, when he gave one to everyone, and began to use them, there instantly was a higher demand! So, he mass produced them, until there were piles and room fulls! and he got robbed one day! So, he began to hide his coins throughout the town, and eventually, the town's ways were spread out and introduced to the world. The End."_

**"Is that it? That's all?**" Luke questioned, not really believing her.

**"Well of course, it's been a story passed down in my family for generations!" **Grannie stated, slightly fizzled by Luke's disbelief.

**"Well, thank you Grannie."** Layton said, and stood Up. **"Come Luke, things to do, places to see." **

The two got up and left, heading out the door.

**"I can't believe they doubted you, Riddles."** Said a man, coming into the room after the car engine outside started.

**"I know. It is a wild story, I guess. Hey, I don't doubt you, Dad, after all, I saw you make the coins."**


End file.
